Golden generation
In sport, a golden generation or golden team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. Below is a list of teams who have been referred to by the media as golden generations, most of which played in the 21st century. Origins It was first coined by the Portuguese sports media to refer to a group of exceptionally gifted teenage Portuguese footballers. This group of players, spearheaded by "Golden Boy" Luís Figo, won two Football World Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991. This group were close to retirement in the early part of the 21st century, leading the European sports media to spotlight the Golden Generation's chances of winning a senior trophy at tournaments such as UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004 (which Portugal hosted) and the 2006 World Cup. Since then, it has been used by media in many different countries, with usage spreading to other areas, for example, in rugby. Football 'Asia' Australia (2006–2014) This Australian team waited 32 years to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament. This group of players formed the backbone of Australia's 2006 FIFA World Cup, 2007 AFC Asian Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup, and 2011 AFC Asian Cup squads and was used extensively during Australia's qualification matches for those respective tournaments, with this crop of players considered to be among the best Australia have ever produced. The Golden Generation is believed to have ended during the reign of Ange Postecoglou as manager of Australia. *Mark Schwarzer *Lucas Neill *Craig Moore *Tim Cahill *Jason Culina *Tony Popovic *Brett Emerton *Josip Skoko *Mark Viduka *Harry Kewell *Stan Lazaridis *Ante Covic *Vince Grella *Scott Chipperfield *John Aloisi *Michael Beauchamp *Archie Thompson *Zeljko Kalac *Joshua Kennedy *Luke Wilkshire *Mile Sterjovski *Mark Milligan *Mark Bresciano *Tony Vidmar 'Europe' 'Belgium (2013–)' The current Belgium squad is considered by the media, press and fans as the best Belgium squad ever; featuring key players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel, Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, from the beginning of the tournament, Belgium were considered by many as one of the favourites to win the tournament. Belgium finished second group on six points, beating Panama and Tunisia, before losing to England. Belgium eventually beat Croatia 2–1 in the semi-final to reach their first major final since Euro 1980, they would subsequently lose the final 4–2 to England, matching their result at Euro 1980. *Toby Alderweireld *Zakaria Bakkali *Michy Batshuayi *Christian Benteke *Yannick Carrasco *Koen Casteels *Nacer Chadli *Thibaut Courtois *Kevin De Bruyne *Steven Defour *Mousa Dembélé *Jason Denayer *Leander Dendoncker *Marouane Fellaini *Eden Hazard *Thorgan Hazard *Adnan Januzaj *Christian Kabasele *Vincent Kompany *Nicolas Lombaerts *Jordan Lukaku *Romelu Lukaku *Dries Mertens *Thomas Meunier *Simon Mignolet *Kevin Mirallas *Radja Nainggolan *Divock Origi *Youri Tielemans *Thomas Vermaelen *Jan Vertonghen *Axel Witsel 'England (2001–2010)' During the reign of Sven-Göran Eriksson, Adam Crozier, the chief executive of the Football Association and some members of the British media, touted players such as David Beckham, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard as the nucleus of a potential Golden Generation team. Despite some impressive performances such as the 2001 Germany vs England football match in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and the individual players' successes at club level, inconsistency resulted in this group of players failing to live up to expectations, resulting in the group becoming synonymous with disappointment and failed potential. After Eriksson left in 2006 and Steve McClaren became manager, although many of the players continued to achieve success with their respective clubs, the team failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008, only the second time England failed to qualify for a major tournament in over 20 years (of the last 12 major tournaments). Rio Ferdinand claimed that the pressure of the "Golden Generation" tag had a negative effect on the players, restricting their ability to perform to their full potential for the national team. In 2017, Pep Guardiola said he could not understand why England did not achieve more with players such as Lampard, Carrick, Scholes, Gerrard, Terry and Ferdinand and claimed they were on the same level as Spain's golden generation of 2008–2014. *David Beckham *Sol Campbell *Jamie Carragher *Michael Carrick *Ashley Cole *Joe Cole *Rio Ferdinand *Steven Gerrard *Frank Lampard *Gary Neville *Michael Owen *Paul Robinson *Wayne Rooney *Paul Scholes *John Terry 'England (2017–)' After successful seasons throughout 2017 and 2018 from young talented English players in the domestic leagues saw some members of the media begin to dub manager Gareth Southgate's team the "New Golden Generation". Unlike the Golden Generation of 2001–2010, the New Generation were very consistent at international level winning nine matches in a row on the way to the 2018 World Cup semi-final. Though officially classed as a draw England won a 10th consecutive match beating France 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw, their first ever World Cup penalty shoot-out victory. They would ultimately defeat Belgium 4–2 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, winning England their second World Cup, their first since 1966. Though a number of players were internationally capped prior to Gareth Southgate's appointment, the influx of new younger talent helped the team grow internationally. *Trent Alexander-Arnold *Dele Alli *Eric Dier *James Harrison *Jordan Henderson *Harry Kane *Jesse Lingard *Ruben Loftus-Cheek *Harry Maguire *Jordan Pickford *Marcus Rashford *Danny Rose *Raheem Sterling *John Stones *Kieran Trippier *Jamie Vardy *Kyle Walker *Ashley Young